Hillsborough and Pinellas county transit authorities are seeing strong bus advertising growth, though the revenue increases are not enough to offset the impact of ongoing property tax shortfalls.

Authority managers and advertising executives say the revenue uptick indicates some confidence in the economy but is mostly driven because bus advertising is less expensive than other forms of marketing.

The bulk of the ad buys are on the exterior of buses and don’t appear to be strongly linked to increased ridership on either side of Tampa Bay.

“Our marketing staff has been steadily pounding the pavement for a few years now, and it’s finally starting to get traction,” Community Relations Manager Bob Lasher said. “... The increased advertising is a sign of an improving economy.”

The bus line has a “nicely diverse group of advertisers and no segment in particular,” Lasher said.

The new contract guarantees $375,000 to HART for the 12-month period beginning in May. Through February, Direct Media put enough ads under contract that HART will receive at least another $85,000 with March and April sales yet to be determined, said Steve Rosenstock, HART’s manager of marketing and communications. Under the contract, HART receives 60 percent of revenue over the $375,000 annual guarantee.

Exterior advertising

HART also benefits from Direct Media sales reps working for bus agencies in other markets, including Jacksonville, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Some of the statewide accounts landed by the firm include the Florida Lottery, PNC Bank, AT&T, Chevron and Steak n’ Shake.

“We are seeing more of an influx of national and regional advertisers, not just local advertisers,” Rosenstock said.

Significant buys are exterior panels and wraps, which are effective no matter how many people are riding the bus.

“The big money comes from the external advertising,” Gage said. “Transit and all outdoor advertising are growing because of the lower cost.”

Direct Media contracts with Sarasota-based Road Signs Inc. for its production and installation work. The company also does work for PSTA.

Road Signs President Keith Bernard said at first he only did installation work for Direct Media, but he has expanded into printing contracts.

“I told them they could save on shipping and because we are right here we could jump on any repair work,” Bernard said. “It has increased my bottom line by 30 percent over the past year.”

The extra work has resulted in Bernard adding one employee and an unpaid intern to his staff of seven workers.

Direct Media also signed a separate contract in January with Tampa Historic Streetcar, which operates downtown’s iconic yellow streetcar in partnership with HART.

“We’ve had more activity in the last two and half months than the last three years,” Rosenstock said. “It is primarily being driven by the Republican National Convention.”

Even with recent increases, revenue from bus ads remains a small fraction of the transit authorities’ overall revenues. The agencies rely on government grants, passenger fares and property taxes.

PSTA has a $55 million budget, and the increased revenue from bus ads doesn’t make up for losses in the past few years due to the recession and the property tax cap, Lasher said.

HART’s annual operating budget is nearly $61 million.

Last year’s ridership in Hillsborough reached 13.9 million, an 11 percent increase over 2010. Pinellas carried 13.1 million passengers in fiscal 2010-2011, a slight increase over the previous record of the preceding fiscal year.

BUS TO BILLBOARD Bus wraps are giant advertising decals that envelope the vehicle’s exterior surface except for the front window and passenger doors. The vinyl material allows passengers to see out of the windows. In Pinellas it costs $3,500 per month per vehicle to wrap an entire bus. The Hillsborough rate is $3,200 per vehicle per month. Both agencies have kept rates unchanged the past few years. Advertisers pay an additional one-time cost of $5,400 for ad production and installation.

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